Finishing 2010 with “Grace” and “AMEN”!!

The end of a year sounds a note of finality that sometimes is accompanied with feelings of relief that this one is finally over; other times with regret for things not finished as they should have been; while still others are ended on a note of joy and satisfaction.

Everything that has a beginning also has an end.  And it is appropriate to look at the ending of things to examine how they were finished.

This week I took a few minutes to read the end of each of the books in the New Testament.  Take a look at a sampling of these last words:

·        “To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.” (Romans)

·        “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen” (1 Corinthians)

·        “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.” (2 Corinthians)

·        “Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.” (Galatians)

·        “Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.” (Ephesians)

·        “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” (Philippians)

·        “The salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen.” (Colossians)

·        “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” (1 Thessalonians)

·        “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” (2 Thessalonians)

·        “Grace be with thee. Amen.” (1 Timothy)

·        “The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.” (2 Timothy)

·        “All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.” (Titus)

·        “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.” (Philemon)

·        “Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you. Grace be with you all. Amen.” (Hebrews)

Two recurring things jumped out at me in these benedictions. The first is “grace” and the second is “Amen”.

In the words at the end of the Pauline Epistles I see some applicable truths for our lives to help us Finish Well in 2010. 

1.    Let us finish 2010 by ministering Grace.

a.    Is there someone in your life with whom you have a dispute, or toward whom you hold bitterness or anger?  You can finish well by offering God’s grace to them. (see Matthew 5:23-24; Mark 11:25-26)

b.    Is there someone in your life who is overwhelmed with the burdens of life, one for whom there is no joy at the ending of another year?  You can finish well by ministering the healing grace of God in their life. (see 2 Corinthians 4:15-17)

c.     Is there someone in your life who needs to know about the saving grace of God?  You can finish well by sharing God’s grace with them. (see Ephesians 2:8-9)  

2.    Let us finish 2010 with an “Amen”.

What does that mean?  Well, the word “Amen” simply means to confirm a truth, oath or covenant.  In our lives, this means to put an exclamation point on an ending, saying, “It is finished. I’ve ended right.”  It’s not to say that all in my life this past year was as it should have been, but that I am ending my year right with God and right with man. (see Acts 24:16)

Charles Spurgeon said it this way, “Amen is sometimes used in Scripture as an amen of resolution. It means, ‘I, in the name of God, solemnly pledge myself that, in His strength, I will seek to make it so; to Him be glory both now and for ever.’” (from A Psalm for the New Year)

By God’s Grace, let’s finish 2010 by ministering grace and finishing with an “Amen”!

“What is his son’s name?” – The Ancient Question Is Still Asked Today!

“Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?”  (Proverbs 30:4)

Living in a day 2000+ years after the incarnation of Jesus Christ, it is somewhat difficult to fully comprehend prophecy.

But, even in ancient times prophecies were rare, as millions of people lived over thousands of years of history, and yet the number of true prophets of God were no more than a few hundred. And without modern communication and transportation methods, most people would have never seen or heard a prophet in their lifetimes.

And yet, there were times when the Spirit of God spoke directly to men, and revealed to them God's Word.

In this passage we find Solomon turning aside from his nuggets of wisdom for living to give a brief set of questions to us about the Son of God.

He opens by confirming that there is a Creator God, who can move between earth and heaven, who has the power to gather all the water of the earth in his garment and hold the wind in his hand.

He then asks the reader to confirm the name of this God. Remember, Solomon lived in a land surrounded by pagans, and only the Jews worshiped the Creator, and they knew his name: Jehovah!

But then, Solomon asked his students to answer one more thing: the name of God's Son. But wait a minute, how did Solomon know that God has a Son? And how could his readers know his name?  

In the Old Testament, there is only one other reference to the Son of God -- in Dan. 3:25, when Nebuchadnezzar watches in amazement as the three Hebrew children walk around unharmed in the fiery furnace, and with them is a fourth person -- the Son of God!  But, that reference is about 400 hundred years AFTER Solomon.  And yet, four centuries earlier, Solomon somehow knew that God had a son.

There are several "theophonies" in the Old Testament... that is, pre-incarnate appearances of Christ; but none identify Him as God's Son prior to the Daniel reference.  (eg. Abram and the King of Melchizedek, Gen 14:18; Joshua and the Man with the Sword, Joshua 5:13-15)

While I don't have the answers for it all, it is obvious that Solomon was hoping in the coming Messiah, who would be more than just a military ruler and king of Israel, and more than one of Solomon's descendants, he would be God's Son.

When we see the depth of faith and knowledge the O.T. saints had without the full revelation of the Bible, we are without excuse. We know the name of God's Son - Jesus Christ - and we have the complete revelation of God in our hands.

Today, there are still those who ask the question, “Who is God’s Son?”  Well, for Bible-believers, there is no question as to that answer. 1 Timothy 3:16 tells us, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”

The incarnation (meaning “made into flesh”) revealed that God’s Son is none other than Jesus Christ!  John's Gospel says it this way, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)

As we celebrate His birth this week, let’s take time to answer the question “and what is his son’s name?”

Have a Blessed and Merry Christmas!

“We Have Seen His Star… but We Did Not Go!”

The biblical account of the birth of Christ includes the fascinating account of the wise men from the east who saw the star in the sky and followed it, seeking “he that is born King of the Jews” (Matthew 2:2).  Somehow, these sages understood that the appearance of this star was of momentous importance, and they followed it, until it led them to Bethlehem’s manger.

Have you ever wondered, as have I, about where these wise men were from?  And how come they alone followed the star?  Were they the only star watchers in the east who understood that something significant was occurring with this appearance?

What if there had been some other wise men who also saw that natal star, and who even started on their journey to follow its light, but never made it all the way to Bethlehem?  What if they were side tracked by someone and never learned of the Lord’s Christ?  What might have happened in their country?

Hold on to your hat… it appears that really happened!  Read this account:

In the annals of the Celestial Empire, there is historical evidence of Ambassadors or "wise men" having been sent towards the West in search of the "Great Saint who was to appear." The following from the Annals narrates the circumstance: --

 "In the 24 th year of the Tchao-Wang, of the dynasty of the Tcheou, on the 8 th day of the 4 th moon, a light appeared in the south-west which illuminated the "king's palace. The monarch, struck by its splendour, interrogated the sages, who were skilled in foretelling future events. They then showed him hooks in which it was written that this prodigy signified the appearance of a great Saint in the West, whose religion was to be introduced into this country.

The king consulted the ancient books, and having found the passages corresponding with the time of Tchao-Wang, was filled with joy. Then he sent the officers Tsa-yu and Thsin-King, the learned Wang-Tsun, and fifteen other men to the West to obtain information." So sensible were these "wise men" of the time and place of the Saviour's birth, that they set forth to hail the expected Redeemer.

The envoy encountered in their way the missionaries of Buddhism coming from India announcing an incarnate god; these the Chinese took for the disciples of the true Christ, embraced their teaching, and introduced them to their fellow-country-men as the teachers of the true religion. Thus was Buddhism introduced into China in place of Christianity.

(from The Biblical Illustrator, Joseph Exell, editor. Published by Baker Publishing House, Copyright (c)1952)

Does the gravity of this story grab your heart the way it does mine?  If only those astronomers had continued all the way to Bethlehem, instead of being detoured by the Buddhist missionaries coming out of India, China and the Far East could have been a Christian continent.

This Christmas, let’s not pass by the opportunities the Lord gives us to point people to Jesus Christ.  If we don’t, Satan’s counterfeit missionaries surely will fill the vacuum to the eternal detriment of the sinner’s soul.

Forgetting “a date that will live in infamy”

This morning is December 7.  It was 69  years ago today that Americans first heard the news that Japan had launched a devastating attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawaii.  That morning, in a surprise attack, Japanese airplanes bombarded the base with a barrage of fire power that left 2,403 dead, including the 1,177 who went down with the U.S.S. Arizona, and who are still entombed in her bowels.  This attacked launched America into the Pacific theater of the war.

And yet, today hardly a mention is given to that fateful day, of which President Franklin D. Roosevelt called “a date that will live in infamy.” 

This morning, I turned on the computer and on my internet home page, which happens to be www.yahoo.com, there is a revolving banner of 40 headlines which are updated throughout the day.  Here is a sampling of today’s “important” news:

* Most popular holiday gifts

* 25-year foreclosure fight

* Motley panel gets same-sex marriage case

* Wikileaks founder arrested

* Mascot’s huge pushup total

* NFL team to pay 3 head coaches

* Why you think you’re hungry

* Deal surfaces for tax cuts

* Busted lip trips up Obama

… and so on.  All the “important” news of the day, but not a single headline out of 40 even mentions Pearl Harbor Day. 

Today, the survivors of the Pearl Harbor Day attack are in their late 80’s and into their 90’s, and it certainly must grieve them to see how we as a nation have forgotten.  So, today, if you know a World War II era veteran, be sure to thank them for their service, and for helping keep America “the land of the free, and the home of the brave.”

“Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.” (Romans 13:7)

God Bless America!